August 4, 2018

NM Libertarian Party picks Gary Johnson as US Senate nominee

Gary Johnson speaks to supporters at the end of his 2016 presidential campaign

The Libertarian Party of New Mexico chose a replacement for the party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate race on Saturday. But their choice, former Republican Governor and two-time Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson still has not decided whether he will accept the offer.

In a statement, Johnson repeated his previous remarks, saying he wants to see if he has a chance at winning.

“A major factor is, simply, whether I can win,” Johnson said. “When I set out to summit Mt. Everest, I did not do so with the thought that I would just go half way up.”

Johnson added that he is giving the race his “most serious consideration” and expects to make a final decision in several days.

The vote to nominate Johnson, according to a press release from the state Libertarian Party, was unanimous and comes days after State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn announced he would end his campaign for U.S. Senate.

If Johnson decides to run, he would face Democratic incumbent Martin Heinrich and Republican Albuquerque construction business owner and political newcomer Mick Rich. While there is no public polling that includes Johnson as a candidate, NSON Opinion Strategy, a consulting company from Utah reportedly conducted a poll showing a close, three-way race. NSON Opinion Strategy’s president is Ron Neilson, who lead Johnson’s 2016 campaign for president.

After inspecting absentee ballots from the 2nd Congressional District’s most-populous county, Republican Yvette Herrell decided not to challenge the results of the election she lost to Democrat Xochitl Torres Small in November. Herrell announced the news Monday, the deadline to challenge the results.

While Democrats led the way in fundraising in the latest quarter, federal campaign finance reports filed Monday show, one candidate considerably outraised the rest. NM Political Report first reported that Xochitl Torres Small, a Democrat seeking the 2nd Congressional District seat, raised over $1.9 million yesterday.

Inside the New Mexico State Land Office, current Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn sits at a dark wood desk ringed with a painting of the Rio Grande Gorge, a saddle, and a pair of leather chaps pinned on the wall, homages to a lifetime spent on cattle ranches. But it’s the decor outside that tends to draw more attention: Dunn installed a model pump jack in front of the State Land Office building on Old Santa Fe Trail.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she was going to take the "shackles" off the state's film industry by removing an annual $50 million cap on tax rebate payouts to eligible production companies that film in the state. While she didn't exactly get her wish, Senate Bill 2 comes close.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate and former two-term Republican governor Gary Johnson is killing time outside a Starbucks in Los Alamos between campaign events. Technically he shouldn’t be here at all—or, at least not running for office.

Holtec International was in the news last month when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied requests from some groups to hold an additional hearing over the company’s license to build an interim storage site in southeastern New Mexico to hold nuclear waste from commercial power plants.